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Sunday, February 20, 2011

After a Spell of Violence, Today the City was Calm

Feb 19, 2011-Monterrey, NL.- At the end of a week filled with bickering amongst fans in the midst of great expectation, and only hours after the city lived its most violent moments, today, on the day of combat between diehard soccer rivals, no blood was spilled by sicarios or representatives of the law.

The toll in acts related to organized crime was zero, since early morning hours, not a single confrontation was reported.

It is as if the Monterrey-Tigres classic kept the sicarios busy.

Since the beginning of the year 192 people have died in Monterrey due to acts related to organized crime. In other words, in the first fifty days of the year, the war against the narco has averaged a death toll of four per day.

In effect, the city was split amongst “futbol” rivals, but on the streets and in the restaurants, there was calm. Meanwhile the “federales,” the military, agents of the FFP and the marines, far from the [excitement] of the local “clásico,” continued their operations.

Everywhere that they circulated, be it the outskirts or the center of town, representatives of the law were met with a city at peace, perhaps preparing itself for a party.

"There should be a clásico everyday", said a “federal,” as he passed by Avenida Ruiz Cortines in a convoy.

It was only after I could watch a Cantinflas movie in its entirety and understand everything he said that I realized that I had finally learned to speak the language of my ancestors, well at least some of them